title: The prevalence of diverse HIV-1 strains was stable in Cameroonian blood donors from 1996 to 2004.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The HIV epidemic in Cameroon is characterized by a high level of strain diversity despite a relatively low prevalence of infection. In this study, HIV strains infecting blood donors in Cameroon were characterized to determine the prevalence of subtypes and intersubtype recombinants and if strain prevalence was changing over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 1996 through 2004, 676 HIV-infected blood donations were collected at blood banks in Douala and Yaoundé, Cameroon. A subset of the HIV-1 group M strains (n = 574) were classified based on phylogenetic analysis of viral sequences from the gag p24, pol integrase, and env gp41 regions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HIV-1 group M accounted for 97.3% (n = 658) of infections, whereas group O was present in 2.2% (n = 15) and HIV-2 in 0.4% (n = 3). Within the group M infections, 14 subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) and unique recombinant forms (URFs) were identified. Overall, CRFO2_AG accounted for 58.2% of infections, URFs 14.8%, and levels of subtypes, A, B, C, D, F2, and G, and CRFs, 01, 06, 09, 11, 13, 22, and 37, varied from 0.2% to 6.1%. Evaluation of HIV strains present in the donor population over this 9-year period showed no substantial changes in the proportion of infections caused by each subtype and CRF, the percentage of intersubtype recombinants, or the strain composition of the URFs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HIV-1 strain diversity in Cameroon did not significantly change, suggesting a mature and relatively stable epidemic.
authors.affiliation: AIDS Research and Virus Discovery, Abbott Diagnostics, Abbott Park, IL 60064-6015, USA. catherine.brennan@abbott.com
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bodelle
authors.forename: Ruthie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coffey
authors.forename: Sushil G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Devare
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hackett
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Holzmayer
authors.forename: Ka-Cheung
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Luk
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schochetman
authors.forename: Priscilla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vallari
authors.forename: Nicaise
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ndembi
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ngansop
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Makamche
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mbanya
authors.forename: Lutz G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Gürtler
authors.forename: Leopold
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zekeng
authors.forename: Lazare
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kaptué
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D013997:Time Factors